


A Tale of a Fish

by ButterflyCrossing



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Dragons, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fairy Tale Style, Gen, koi fish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 20:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13795836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButterflyCrossing/pseuds/ButterflyCrossing
Summary: A koi that lives for 100 years will face much hardship and learn many new things, and will gain wisdom that can transform him.A retelling of the Chinese legend of the Koi at the Dragon’s Gate.





	A Tale of a Fish

**Author's Note:**

> Walks in a year later with teavana. What’s up you cool babies?  
> This was born out of a RP bio that ended up sounding incredibly folk-tale esque style wise, so I thought I’d toss it up here. Enjoy a retelling of the story of the dragon koi, featuring Goshiki.
> 
> Also hey I’m not Chinese and don’t claim to know the ins and outs of this legend, but I’ve heard the story many times and wanted to play with the basic idea of a fish learning many facets of wisdom over 100 years. Let me know if there’s something I’m missing down in the comments section.

Tsutomu was born through one of the first breedings of goshiki koi pattern in the late 1910s. He was one of the strongest and healthiest of his batch, so the breeders kept him as one of the main breeding males of the new color variation. Because of this, he was admired by many of the other koi, and had praised heaped upon him. He was adored by his descendants, and loved telling them stories he came up with. Through this he learned about creativity and adoration.

Eventually his line of descendants grew into a robust and large gene pool for the goshiki pattern, and he was no longer needed. The humans who had bred him sold him to a young couple, who kept him in their koi pond for many years. He watched as the couple grew up together, he watched them as they had children , and watched as the children grew up and fell in love and left and came back, and he learned so much about love through his observation.

There were also older koi in the pond, who mentored him and told him stories passed down through generations. Through them he learned many things, but most of all humility and how to listen. The story that stuck with him the most was the story of the dragon that started off as a simple koi fish like him. A fish who took 100 years to climb a waterfall, learning new things each step of the way, and when he reached the top, the Dragon’s Gate, the fish gained Pearl of Wisdon and ascended into dragonhood.

So when the young grandson of the couple, with sympathy in his heart for the growing fish in a tiny pond, scooped him up one day, dropped him into a water-filled bag, and sloshed Tsutomu across the yard, through the forest, and into a river, Tsutomu knew where he needed to go. He was scared, of course, as he had ever only known human controlled environments, but he persisted. He asked many other creatures the way to the Dragon’s Gate. Some were hostile, like the egrets who wanted to snatch him up as a snack, but others, like the friendly turtles, would point him in the right direction. Through this journey, he learned about trust, and about accepting help from those who offer.

Eventually, he found the waterfall. He could see other koi making their journey, and at the top of the sparkling falls, he could see the glint of pearls of the Dragon’s Gate. And determination swelled in him, and he began to leap up the waterfall. And he didn’t make it all the way up the first time. Or the second. But each time he failed, and fell back to a lower pool, he took time to talk to the koi who decided to stay in that pool. And he learned of their struggles, and why they decided to remain koi instead of making the push to become a dragon. And they all wished him well. So as he climbed, he took the hopes and dreams of many others with him.

And eventually, after 100 years of living and change and trying to get to the gate, he finally did. He had survived the trials it took to get to this point, and had gained so much knowledge along the way. When the dragons asked his story, looking to know if he had the wisdom to join them, he told them his story, and they knew right away he was worthy. And so he was rewarded at the end of his long journey with a glistening jewel and two new forms. One that he had worked so long for, and another, a human form, to be able to glean new knowledge from new sources.

**Author's Note:**

> If y’all didn’t know, the Goshiki is also a pattern on koi fish (try googling Goshiki and you’ll see it) which was actually bred 100 years ago in 1918.


End file.
